A foreclosure sign is seen in front of a home in Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

(Newser)
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Foreclosure eviction proceedings around the country have ground to a halt after a mortgage company employee admitted to signing off on foreclosures without looking at them. The head of foreclosure document processing at Ally Financial, the nation's fourth-largest home lender, was required to verify information and sign documents in the presence of a notary. He has admitted he did neither, the Washington Post reports. He appears to have just signed everything his team put in front of him—around 10,000 documents per month.

Ally's GMAC Mortgage unit has suspended eviction proceedings in 23 states while it investigates, and company execs say hundreds of other companies that used Ally's services—including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—may also be affected. Consumer advocates say it is routine for firms to sign off on foreclosures without reviewing the paperwork. "This is business as usual for the mortgage servicing industry," a consumer bankruptcy attorney tells Reuters. "GMAC just got caught." A JPMorgan Chase employee has also admitted that she signed thousands of affidavits without verifying the information, the Financial Times reports.

Sadly this happens far too often. Regulation is only so effective, and usually too little, too late. The solution is that homeowners need to educate themselves. They need to know who owns their loan and who the parties are that are involved in the foreclosure process, so that they know who to respond to and how. Knowing this information and understanding the foreclosure process could help them stop illegal foreclosures. For example, part of the requirements of the Nevada Foreclosure Mediation Process requires that the lender show documentation that they are the true current owner of the loan, and have the legal authority to foreclose on the home. Lenders can be prevented from foreclosing if they do not provide all of the documentation. We've written a series of free guides and ebooks to help homeowners better understand their options. They're available at no cost at http://www.WhatsAllTheHype.com (use code "NSR10").

lindsaystadtlander

Sep 23, 2010 7:35 PM CDT

Sadly this happens far too often. Regulation is only so effective, and usually too little, too late. The solution is that homeowners need to educate themselves. They need to know who owns their loan and who the parties are that are involved in the foreclosure process, so that they know who to respond to and how. Knowing this information and understanding the foreclosure process could help them stop illegal foreclosures. For example, part of the requirements of the Nevada Foreclosure Mediation Process requires that the lender show documentation that they are the true current owner of the loan, and have the legal authority to foreclose on the home. Lenders can be prevented from foreclosing if they do not provide all of the documentation. We've written a series of free guides and ebooks to help homeowners better understand their options. They're available at no cost at http://www.WhatsAllTheHype.com (use code "NSR10").

Meemaw

Sep 22, 2010 7:13 PM CDT

Tax and regulate our employers so they have to send our jobs overseas... so we lose jobs; keep tariffs low so that someone "maybe" will trade more with us and they do not, yes, they import our jobs ... so we lose jobs here; loan money for mortgages to a$$holes that any sane person would not qualify, they shit out their' bogus loans and crash our economy... so we lose jobs; Now the a$$holes at the bank are taking houses from people who are already down on their' luck, taking so many that they are crashing the housing market... so we lose jobs; They got MONEY FROM US THE GOVERNMENT to pay for these distressed properties! So now these asswads are taking money for the house and KEEPING the house! They all need to be hung for piracy! The Congress Men like Barney Frank, the heads of Freddie and Fannie and any bank that forecloses for nothing or won’t make a deal, for anyone who was just a victim of the economy not those with junk loans.